As haywire as junior hockey can be from time to time, this past weekend provided a silver lining.
Early in the regular season, the Chase Heat had a two-week span of Jekyll and Hyde-level performances. After four games they stood at one win and three losses. The question on the avid fan’s mind dealt with concern that their team didn’t measure up to expectations.
So Friday, the 22nd of September, they boarded the bus to head down the highway to Princeton, to face off against the suddenly good Posse. Early in the contest it was clear that the game would be high energy, end-to-end action.
Josh Bourne got the boys on the scoreboard first, assisted by Quinn Slezak. However, Princeton worked hard to tie the match at 1-1.
In the second, Chase went through an eight-minute lapse and the Posse were up 2-1.
Then came the third period, where Bourne popped in a short-handed unassisted tie goal. On the same penalty just 21 seconds later, Kolten Moore scored shorthanded from Bourne, and the starch was out of the vigilantes’ socks. Bourne fired in a hat trick goal on a power-play from Moore and Cam Watson, to give the Heat a 4-2 road win. The road home echoed with songs, jokes and laughter as the weary lads enjoyed their success as a team.
Next up on Saturday night at home in the confines of the Art Holding Memorial Arena were the Little Apple Chiefs.
The Kelowna crew arrived from the past night’s 7-0 pasting of the Knights from Armstrong.
The two rivals have a history of dislike and it showed up early. But on this night the Heat power-play units were humming on all six cylinders. The first extra-man goal arrived in the first from the stick of Ryan Okino on a sweet couple of passes from Kaden Black and Zachary Fournier.
In the second, the smooth Pat Brady slapped in the second man-advantage tally from Moore and Bourne.
With the arrival of the third stanza, Brady did it again on the power play from Bourne and Moore. Then Black played his part getting the fourth extra-man goal from Bourne and Fournier. But that’s only four, and so Evan Hughes joined the marksmen with a counter from Fournier and Brett Alexander.
Power-play goal #6 was the second for Black from Fournier and Colten Nikiforuk – six cylinders, six goals! With time running out, rookie Quinn Slezak popped in his first KIJHL goal from Alexander and Gavin Mattey, the only one scored five-on-five of the night. The conclusion, a 7-0 home victory over the Kelowna Chiefs.
So a four-point weekend, ably backstopped by new acquisition Conor Webb who got the shutout versus Kelowna. Webb moved over to the Heat in a trade from the North Okanagan Knights.
This coming weekend the Eagles soar in from Sicamous on Friday the 29th at 7 p.m. It’s a one-game weekend with the Annual Chase Heat Golf Tournament on Saturday the 30th. A fun day and an opportunity to drive, chip and putt around Sunshore with the Heat. Sign up at Sunshore or call Lars at 250-371-4878 to join the Village Hack and Whacks.
